A Super-Earth Found that is Just Right to Support Life
LONDON: Astronomers have discovered a new super-Earth planet around a nearby star that may have an Earth-like climate and be just right to support life. The new planet exists in the habitable zone of a nearby star and is part of a six-planet system. The system was previously thought to contain three planets in orbits too close to the star to support liquid water.
By avoiding fake signals caused by stellar activity, the researchers have identified three new super-Earth planet candidates also in orbit, 'Astrobiology .com' reported.
"We pioneered new data analysis techniques including the use of the wavelength as a filter to reduce the influence of activity on the signal from this star," Mikko Tuomi from the University of Hertfordshire, said. This significantly increased our sensitivity and enabled us to reveal three new super-Earth planets around the star known as HD 40307, making it into a sixplanet system," Tuomi said.
Of the new planets, the one of greatest interest is the one with the outermost orbit from the star — with a mass at least seven times of the Earth. Its orbit around the host star is at a similar distance to Earth's orbit around our Sun, so it receives a similar amount of energy from the star — increasing the probability of it being habitable. This is where the presence of liquid water and stable atmospheres to support life is possible.